In 2020, in Beijing, China.
Right after the National Day, the cold air swept in like a thunderbolt, especially at night when it was extremely cold.
After seeing off Sister Liu, her boss who had given her a ride home after the gathering at the intersection, Lin Xi walked towards the self - built rental house she lived in.
It was already past midnight. The self - built house where she lived was already locked. Lin Xi took out her access card, swiped it on the door, and then went straight up to the second floor.
The house she rented was small, less than twenty square meters, but it had a bathroom and a kitchen. It was small but well - equipped.
As the effect of the alcohol kicked in, she went to the bathroom to wash her face and remove her makeup, and then collapsed onto the bed. The second - hand iPhone in the bag on the bedside table made a tinkling sound. Lin Xi wanted to check it, but she fell into a sweet dream instead.
When she woke up again, it was four o'clock in the morning. She took her phone and went to the bathroom.
There was a red dot floating on the WeChat app on the home screen, with "29+" written in it. She poured herself a glass of water. The cold water went down her throat and into her lungs, and the fatigue all over her body after drinking alcohol dissipated a little.
She clicked on WeChat, skipped the unimportant messages, first replied to Sister Liu that she had arrived home safely, and then replied to the customers' consultation messages from the previous night. After that, she finally had time to look at the group chat that she didn't know when she had joined.
The name of the group chat was very childish. It was called the "Time - Travelers' Chat Group".
[Xu Huanhuan from the Ancient World: There's a new member in the group. Let's give a warm welcome!]
[Lin Duxi from the Post - Apocalyptic Wasteland: Welcome, new member. Share your story!]
[Ye Bingbing, the Evil Female Match of the Domineering CEO: Let's throw confetti!]
There was also a message that @ her, but at that time, Lin Xi was sleeping and didn't reply at all.
The whole group then fell silent.
Lin Xi was already twenty - four years old this year. She graduated from college at twenty - two and stayed in Beijing to work hard. Two years had passed since then.
The hardships of life and the harshness of society had long beaten away the little childishness she had. In her free time, she still read novels to relax, but she never believed in time - travel.
She swiped right to switch to the group member interface and scrolled down, but even when she reached the bottom, she didn't see the "Exit Group Chat" button.
"Is there a bug in WeChat?" she muttered to herself. She scrolled to the bottom, brought up all the pop - up windows running in the background, swiped up the WeChat page to completely exit the app, and then reopened the icon. After the app opened with the large picture of the earth and a little person standing beside it, the chat message interface appeared.
She found the Time - Travelers' Chat Group and clicked in, but there was still no "Exit Group Chat" button. Lin Xi didn't believe it. She clicked into the pinned work group, scrolled down, and the four red characters "Exit Group Chat" clearly appeared at the bottom of the group member interface.
She let out a snort. She exited the work group and then clicked into the Time - Travelers' Chat Group. As expected, there was still no "Exit Group Chat" message in this group. It seemed that it wasn't a WeChat bug, nor was it a problem with her second - hand phone. It was this group chat itself that had a problem.
She glanced at the time. It was already almost five o'clock. She didn't look at the phone anymore, plugged it in to charge, and lay down on the bed. She fell asleep in a matter of minutes.
At half - past five in the morning, the harsh alarm clock woke Lin Xi up. She quickly opened her eyes, rolled out of bed, took two eggs from the fridge and put them in the electric cooker to boil, and then went to the bathroom to wash up.
After washing up, she quickly put on a clear and natural light makeup. The boiled eggs in the electric cooker were ready. She quickly ran the eggs under cold water and then put them in a bag. She picked up her bag and went out.
At six o'clock in late autumn, the morning was extremely cold and the wind was very strong. Lin Xi arrived at the bus stop at exactly twenty - five past six. In ten minutes, the bus would come.
Taking advantage of this time, she ate the two boiled eggs. The boiled eggs were tasteless, and the egg yolks were hard to swallow, but Lin Xi didn't show any reluctance.
Around her, there were countless other working people like her. There were vendors selling all kinds of breakfasts by the roadside, and the fragrance was carried by the wind, making the plain boiled eggs in Lin Xi's hand seem even more unappetizing.
But she had been having this kind of breakfast for two years and was already used to it. She finished the eggs and threw the eggshells into the green trash can beside the bus stop sign.
In the past two years, her income was not low, but as soon as her monthly salary arrived, most of it would be spent. She had no other choice but to keep reducing her quality of life.
She looked up at the sun struggling to break free from the thick clouds, took a deep breath, and hoped that she could break free from her current predicament as soon as the sun did.
But when would that be? Lin Xi sighed. She took out a bottle of the cheapest mineral water on the market from her bag. The cold mineral water going down her throat made her feel refreshed.
At forty past six, the white - and - green bus came. Lin Xi tightened the cap of the mineral water bottle and put it back into her bag. She squeezed onto the bus with the people gathering towards it.
There were already many people on the bus. Lin Xi quickly found a seat and sat down. She put on a mask and closed her eyes to rest. There was a young man in his twenties sitting beside her, with an earphone in his ear, listening to music.
More and more people got on the bus, and the atmosphere became noisy. Lin Xi closed her eyes and pretended to sleep. She rarely looked at her phone on the bus because she got motion sick. After transferring twice on the bus and a total journey of forty - five minutes, she finally arrived at her workplace. This was the largest building materials market in the west of the Fourth Ring Road. She put on her work ID and walked through the gate.
"Xiao Lin, Xiao Lin."
Hearing the familiar voice, Lin Xi immediately turned around. "Sister Xu, you're here so early today?"
Xu Meili, a woman in her thirties, quickened her steps and walked beside Lin Xi. "Early? I live in the north of the Sixth Ring Road. If I don't leave early, I'll be late again. We've got a new store manager. Being late for one day will result in a fifty - yuan deduction from our salary."
Xu Meili worked at Polo Bathroom, next to Lin Xi's workplace. The new store manager was extremely strict. Lin Xi had heard people talking about her countless times this week.
"Leaders have to be strict," Lin Xi said, and then immediately changed the topic. "Sister Xu, I heard you closed another deal. Congratulations! You're going to get a lot of bonus this month, right?"
Hearing this, Xu Meili couldn't hide the smile on her face. "Not really. I have a mortgage to pay at home, and my son is about to start high school. I start spending money as soon as I open my eyes. No matter how much I earn, it's never enough."
Xu Meili then looked at Lin Xi enviously. "It's still good for you, Xiao Lin. You're single and unmarried. You only need to feed yourself."
Lin Xi smiled faintly and didn't argue. She had heard this kind of thing countless times over the years and was already immune to it.
"What's there to envy? I envy you for having a good family. I heard your husband came on Mid - Autumn Festival? And he even brought you flowers. How romantic! The girls in our store were so envious."
"Only he would mess around like this. In my opinion, a bunch of flowers costs eighty or a hundred yuan. It's neither edible nor useful. It's better to buy something good and have a meal together."
As the two chatted, they reached the store on the first floor. They parted ways at the door and entered their respective stores. The store where Lin Xi worked sold customized wardrobes.
She took out her work uniform from one of the wardrobes and went to the workshop to change into it.
Their work uniforms were black suits with white shirts inside. After she put on the clothes and came out, her colleague had already arrived and was sitting at the table in front of the cash register having breakfast. She greeted her colleague, then Lin Xi stepped on her three - centimeter high - heeled shoes and headed towards the restroom in the southeast corner.
After using the restroom, while washing her hands, she glanced at the mirror on the wall.
She was from Yunnan Province. Compared with the tall northern girls, she was a bit shorter, only 1.65 meters tall. Her facial features were inherited from her grandmother, gentle and elegant. She spoke in a soft voice. She pulled at the corners of her mouth, showing a smile, shook her hands, tore a piece of paper towel from the wall to dry them, and then left.
Back in the store, all five colleagues had arrived. Everyone stood in a row, and the store manager started the routine speech. After that, everyone scattered in the store and called their customers respectively to follow up on the orders.
Lin Xi's business ability was not bad. With her basic salary, commission, travel allowance, lunch allowance, and housing allowance at the end of the month, she could earn about ten to twenty thousand yuan. This salary was not a small amount, but in this bustling city of Beijing, the capital of China, she still couldn't afford a toilet here.
The whole morning passed in such a busy state. At noon, she ordered lunch with her colleagues in the store. In the afternoon, she went to a customer's house with the measurement master in the store to measure the room size and make a budget for the customer. It was already past seven o'clock when they finished.
It was completely dark outside. The installation master had a car, and they didn't live in the same direction. After dropping Lin Xi off at the bus stop, he left in a hurry.
Lin Xi got home at half - past eight.
There were still some vegetables she bought yesterday in the fridge. She cooked the rice, took a shower, and then casually stir - fried a dish for herself. Lin Xi sat at the small dining table in her rental room. There was a bottle of ice - cold beer just taken out of the fridge on the table.
She poured a glass and took a sip first. Eating dinner under the not - so - bright light, this was the most relaxing time of Lin Xi's day.
"Dingdong~" The WeChat notification sound on her phone rang. Lin Xi picked up her phone. When she saw the group chat with a red dot on it, she was a bit dazed. Then the memories of last night came back to her mind.
[Ah Huahua from the Original World: Brothers and sisters! I want to eat soy - sauce fried rice, I want to eat crayfish, I want to eat hot pot!]
[Lin Duxi from the Post - apocalyptic Wasteland: I want to eat spicy strips, I want to eat chili - fried pork. If anyone can let me have a dish of chili - fried pork, I'll call him dad.]
[Ye Bingbing, the Female Supporting Character in the CEO World: I'm different. I want to drink milk tea. Guys, who can understand? In this crazy CEO world, everyone is stupid. There's actually no milk tea!]
[Xu Huanhuan from the Ancient World: I want to drink ice - cold beer. I miss the taste of beer.]
Looking at these netizens with those cheesy nicknames and being so into playing the role of time - travelers, Lin Xi twitched the corners of her mouth and took a photo of the food in front of her.
There was steamed rice, a plate of chili - fried pork made with red and green chilies that looked very delicious, and a glass of ice - cold beer with bubbles and beads of water running down the glass.
As soon as this photo was sent, the group chat that was just bustling with activity instantly fell silent.
[@Lin Zhong Xiao Xi, are you on Earth?]
[Same question.]
Looking at this message, Lin Xi took a bite of the chili - fried pork, put down her chopsticks, and typed quickly: [Lin Zhong Xiao Xi: If I'm not on Earth, where else could I be? Aren't you all on Earth?]
Lin Xi cursed silently in her heart, thinking they were crazy. She exited the group chat and checked the work arrangement in the work group. The messages outside the group started to flood in at an extremely fast speed, but Lin Xi didn't notice.
After reporting her work content for the day in the group and exiting, by this time, the number of messages in that cheesy chat group had exceeded 99, and there were also dozens of messages @ her. She clicked in. Before she could read the previous messages, the latest one popped up. Coincidentally, this one was also @ her.
[Xu Huanhuan from the Ancient World: Lin Xi, if you're on Earth, can you help me go and see my parents? I've been time - traveling for ten years, and I miss them so much. I won't let you do it for free. I'll pay you ten taels of gold.]
Lin Xi took a sip of the ice - cold beer and became interested in playing along with them: [Lin Xi, the Earth Girl: Sure, no problem.]
Just as she sent this message, a pop - up window appeared: [Do you accept Xu Huanhuan from the Ancient World's commission? Yes or No.]
The memory of not being able to find the exit button of the group chat last night came back to her. Lin Xi clicked her tongue. She had heard before that some people in special small circles were very advanced and would make plugins in the software. She must have encountered such a group of people with too much free time.
Lin Xi thought that if she guessed correctly, she had entered the so - called cosplay circle. This thing was quite trendy now. The daughter of Xu Meili's family played this all the time, and she would complain about it to others every now and then.
Muttering to herself, just as she was about to click "Yes", her phone rang. The call was from her hometown. Lin Xi put down her chopsticks and answered the phone.
Before she could say a word, the voice on the other end came: "Xiaoxi, your eldest cousin is getting married next month. What about the money we lent to your family before?"
Lin Xi stood up with the phone in her hand: "Auntie Three, I'll get my salary on the 28th of this month. I'll transfer the money to you then."
After she finished speaking, Auntie Three on the other end of the phone felt very embarrassed: "Xiaoxi, don't blame Auntie Three. There's really no other way. Your eldest cousin is getting married. Just the betrothal gift costs a lot, and they also need to buy a house in the city. If I could manage it, I wouldn't ask you for the money..."
"I know, Auntie Three. Thank you so much for your help over the years. Otherwise, I don't know what would have happened to me and my grandmother." Paying back debts was only right and proper. Lin Xi was always grateful to the relatives who lent money to her family. When something suddenly happened to her family back then, all her relatives, near and far, had helped as much as they could. Especially Auntie Three's family. When they heard that her grandfather had an accident, they brought thirty thousand yuan they got from selling rice and fruits.
Over the years, every time they contacted Lin Xi, they always told her to pay back others first.
"We're family. Why are you saying thank you? It's getting late. You've been working all day. Go and rest. Come back for the Spring Festival. We saved a ham for you last year. You must come back and have it."
"Okay."
Auntie Three probably felt embarrassed and hung up the phone after saying just a few words. By this time, Lin Xi had no mood to play with those people with cheesy ideas.
She reached out to slide the phone screen to return to the chat home page, but accidentally clicked "Yes".
Then, a flash of golden light appeared before her eyes, followed by a loud thud as something heavy landed on the table. Lin Xi stared in surprise with wide - open eyes and then sat up straight.
